The present invention is related to call processing, and is more specifically related to the screening of incoming telephone calls.
Systems for screening incoming telephone calls are known in the art. These systems generally require that the incoming message be screened by the user after an outgoing message that is sent to the caller is also heard by the user, and also require a separate transmission system for transmitting the incoming message to the user.
These existing systems suffer from significant drawbacks that have resulted in the lack of success of such systems in the marketplace. Consumers generally do not want to listen to the outgoing message before screening a call, as it is tedious and repetitive. Prior art systems that require a wireless system or other such systems for transmitting the outgoing message add significantly to the cost, may be incompatible with existing systems, and contribute to the almost absolute failure of any such prior art systems to be successfully marketed.
In accordance with the present invention, a system and method for screening calls are provided that overcome known problems with call screening systems and methods.
In particular, a system and method for screening calls are provided that detect a message before initiating screening and that do not require retransmission of the screened message.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a system for screening telephone calls is provided. The system includes a ring detector that generates ring status data, such as a first data value when a ring signal is being received and a second data value when no ring signal has been received for a predetermined period of time. A message detector generates message status data, such as a first data value when an outgoing message end tone has been detected and a second data value when no outgoing message end tone has been detected for a predetermined period of time. A screener is connected to the ring detector and the message detector and amplifies an incoming message based on the ring status data and the message status data, such as when the ring status data and the message status data indicate that an incoming message is being recorded.
The present invention provides many important technical advantages. One important technical advantage of the present invention is a system and method for screening calls that do not require the message to be transmitted to the user. The present invention amplifies the line signal after a message is detected, so as to eliminate the need to retransmit the message to a screener.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the advantages and superior features of the invention together with other important aspects thereof on reading the detailed description that follows in conjunction with the drawings.